


6 Times Nick Tried To Propose

by funidontlikeyoueither



Category: New Girl (TV 2011)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Kissing, Light Angst, Marriage Proposal, Romance, Vacation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:56:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29755101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/funidontlikeyoueither/pseuds/funidontlikeyoueither
Summary: 6 times that Nick tried to propose during their 6-month stay in Europe.(Set just before season 7)
Relationships: Jessica Day/Nick Miller
Comments: 18
Kudos: 29





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dwarvenshield](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dwarvenshield/gifts), [softinnocence](https://archiveofourown.org/users/softinnocence/gifts).



> the locations and stuff probably aren't accurate in this and i suck at geography so just pretend for plot purposes <3

“Nick!”

No answer.

“Nick!”

Still no answer.

“Nick!”

“I’m in the shower!” 

_Finally, a response_ , Jess thought with frustration. She made her way into the bathroom and- lo and behold- steam was coming out from the top of the shower and her boyfriend was singing the _Dirty Dancing_ soundtrack off-key. “Nick, why are you in the shower? We have to be at the airport in,” she checked her watch, “just over an hour!”

“I’m getting clean.”

Jess rolled her eyes because, yes, _that was the entire point of a shower_. “Well, where’s your suitcase?” she asked.

“I haven’t packed it yet.”

“You,” Jess facepalmed, “you _haven’t_ packed yet? Nick, we’re going on a _6-month trip_ to _Europe_. Why haven’t you packed?”

Nick turned off the water and stuck his hand out of the curtain, trying to grab a towel that wasn’t there. Jess sighed and took a damp blue towel from the rack and passed it to her boyfriend. “You see, Jess,” Nick said as he exited the shower, the towel wrapped around his waist, “during the many years of being alive, I have discovered that I work best under pressure.”

“What are you getting at, Nick?”

“That I will be way more productive now than if I had started packing weeks ago. Relax, Jess.” He gave her a gentle kiss on the lips and made his way into the bedroom. Jess followed him.

“You do know that we’re spending _6 months in Europe_ , right? We’re spending 189 days there. That’s 1,323 pairs of underwear for you. Can you pack 1,323 pairs of underwear in,” she checked her watch again, “ _65 minutes_?! _Can you_?!” She was up in his face, challenging him.

“Yes, Jess, alright. I promise we’ll make the flight.” Nick chuckled to himself. “That rhymed.”

* * *

They did end up missing their flight by 20 minutes. 

“Alright,” Nick said, returning from talking from one of the staff, “there’s a flight tomorrow at 11.”

Jess sighed. “We were supposed to get in _today_.”

“I know, I’m sorry, Jess,” Nick replied, wrapping his arms around her. “At least we won’t miss any of my tours.”

“I know, but I just wanted us to have a romantic weekend there. It’s _Paris_ , Nick. We only have a month there and you’ll be spending most of it in bookstores.” She had stupidly imagined a whole week of the two of them sleeping in bed together until the late morning, and sightseeing, and buying souvenirs for Winston, and Cece, and Schmidt, and Coach, and Aly, and _Ruth_. God, Cece and Schmidt had a kid together and Nick and Jess couldn’t even board a plane on time. But Jess pushed those thoughts out of her head. They didn’t need a kid, or a house, or even an engagement ring. They had each other, and that was more than she could ever hope for. “I’ll just miss you when you’re on tours all day.”

Nick nodded in agreement and kissed her cheek. He was also disappointed in missing his flight since he had something special that he also wanted to do in Paris. But it could wait.

He would always wait for Jess.

* * *

They went back home after booking their tickets for the next day.

“On the bright side,” Nick said as they abandoned their suitcases by the front door and sat on the couch together, “I have an extra night to pack.”

Jess gave her boyfriend a glare. “You didn’t pack enough underwear, did you?”

“I don’t even think I packed underwear.”

Jess shook her head fondly. “I guess we woke up early for nothing.”

“I rushed my shower for nothing.”

“Hey, you don’t get to complain! This is all your fault.”

“I know,” Nick raised his hands in surrender, “and I’m willing to take full responsibility for this.”

“That part was never up for debate.”

Nick kissed Jess’ cheek. “Okay, I’m going to go pack.” He made his way into the bedroom and Jess followed him.

“I’m going to take a nap,” she said and proceeded to collapse onto the bed.

* * *

Jess woke up a few hours later to the sound of her boyfriend whispering and the smell of croissants. 

“Jess…” Nick said softly, tickling her chin.

Jess groaned and lightly slapped his hand away. She cracked open her eye and saw Nick staring at her, a plate of croissants in his hand.

“Your eyes are so blue,” Nick said.

“Thanks.” She pulled him into bed and he adjusted himself so he was laid beside her. “Did you make these?” she asked, taking a bite of the baked good. It wasn’t entirely cooked, so Nick must have made them.

“Yup. And I packed everything.”

“Enough for 6 months?”

“I’m pretty sure they have dishwashers and clothing stores in Europe, Jess. Come on.” Nick chuckled as he reached for a croissant himself.

“Dish… washer? You know they’re meant to wash _dishes_ right, not clothes? It’s in the name.”

“Dishwashers can wash more than one thing, Jess. It’s called being productive.”

“You are not a functional adult.”

“Not at all.”

Jess heard Nick sigh happily and rested her head on his chest. “What’s up?”

“Nothin’, just… this.”

“This?”

“Lying in bed, with you in my arms, eating food. This is what I want.”

“Me too.” Jess tilted her head up to kiss him, but Nick abruptly jumped out of bed. “Nick!”

He ignored her and scavenged about the room. He cheered when he found his notebook.

“What are you writing?” she asked, getting out of bed and peering over his shoulder.

“Notes for the next _Pepperwood_ book. This stuff is perfect!”

“It is?”

“Yes. Julius is in love now; it makes sense that he’ll want to spend his days with Jessica Night. Merle is gonna love this!” Nick turned to Jess, beaming. “You’re my inspiration, Jess.”

Jess smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. They had scarcely said the words to each other since that day in the elevator, 2 and a half years ago. But they didn’t need to, their actions and facial expressions said it all for them. It just made it all the more special when they _did_ say the words out loud. Like right at that moment. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Jessica.”


	2. Chapter 2

The couple had actually succeeded in catching their second flight the next day. It was early morning in Paris when they landed, but they were still stuck in the LA time zone, so Jess didn’t object when Nick suggested that they go straight to their hotel room and take a quick nap.

“A quick nap” turned into the couple waking up 6 hours later at 10am. 

“Well, looks like we have an entire day to ourselves,” Jess said cheerily. 

They spent the morning unpacking all of their belongings- Jess was happy to note that Nick hadn’t done a bad job when packing. After that, Nick said that he was hungry, so they went downstairs to the dining room to take advantage of the pre-paid buffet. All of the expenses for the trip were being handled by Nick’s publicist, Merle Streep. So Nick and Jess were free to enjoy everything without worrying about the cost.

“So,” Nick said as they sat down with their plates, “what did you have in mind for today?”

“Hmm, I don’t know. At first, I was like ‘oh my God, we have no time, we have to do everything right away.’ But now that we’re actually here, it’s like, ‘chill, man, we have all the time in the world.’”

“Oh.” Nick had to admit, he didn’t think that it would be so easy to fit his plans in. He had expected Jess to have some huge timeline, stuffed with things that they had to do. But Jess seemed so _relaxed_. If he was lucky, he might even be able to do it _today_. “I have to go,” Nick said, excusing himself from the table. He didn’t wait for a response from Jess before going into the hallway.

Once the hallway was empty, Nick pulled out his phone and called Jess’ dad. 

“Hey, Bob.”

“ _What do you want, Nick? Is Jess okay? What did you do to her?_ ” Bob demanded; his tone icy. But Nick was pleased to note that there had been no _immediate_ death threat this time.

“Nothing is wrong with Jess, she’s perfect as usual. But I wanted to ask you something-”

“ _You’re not borrowing money_ ,” Bob interrupted. 

“I’m not asking to borrow money.” Nick chuckled. “This time.”

“ _Then what do you want?_ ”

“I want your blessing. I want to ask Jess to marry me.”

“ _No._ ”

“Please, Bob. I love Jess more than anyone else in the world. I promise that I will treat her right and I will love her unconditionally for the rest of my life, just give me a chance to prove it to you.”

Nick heard Bob sigh on the other end of the phone. “ _Fine, you get 6 months! I want her engaged by the time you two get back from Europe, okay?_ ”

“Okay, thank you, Bob!” Nick hung up the phone and almost ran back into the dining hall.

“What was that about?” Jess asked when Nick was sat back down.

“Oh, just, uh, businessy things. Say, do you wanna go on a walk later? Maybe do some touristy stuff?”

Jess gave him a smile that never failed to make Nick swoon. “I would love to.”

* * *

After changing into more appropriate clothing, the couple went on a walk through Paris. They stopped occasionally to look at some attractions which put a smile on Jess’ face. 

She tried to grab his hand but instantly pulled away. “Gross, why is your hand so sweaty?”

“Oh, um.” Nick reached into his pocket and grabbed ahold of the ring. It was beautiful- not too expensive, and not too basic. He was certain that Jess would love it. He was about to recite his romantic speech to Jess when he moved his hand too fast, and the ring slipped out between his fingers. He would have brushed it all off and picked the ring back up, but it fell down a drainage grate, never to be seen again.

“What was that?” Jess asked, having seen the whole thing, except that she couldn’t identify what Nick had been holding.

“Um, it was… just a peanut,” Nick lied. 

“A peanut?”

“Yes, I get snacky. You know this, Jess.”

Jess nodded, convinced, and took Nick’s non-sweaty hand. “Okay, come on, then.”

“Where are we going?” Nick had completely lost his train of thought.

“To get you some more peanuts, dummy.”

* * *

“ _How much of an idiot are you? How do you_ drop an engagement ring _?_ ” Bob demanded. Nick had just told him the news about the failed proposal, and his girlfriend’s father wasn’t taking it well.

“I-I don’t know, Bob,” Nick answered. “Like, she was stood there and she looked so beautiful and I just got nervous! And sweaty! It’s okay, I’ll buy another ring and-”

“ _No, forget that. I’m sending you my grandmother’s ring. And if you lose this, you’re dead._ ”

Nick swallowed harshly as Bob hung up the phone. So Paris may not have worked out, but he still had 5 more months to do this. Ireland could be romantic, right? 

He left the bathroom and went back into their bedroom and saw Jess sat on the bed, as beautiful as ever. 

“Hey, you,” she said, embracing Nick and kissing him gently on the lips.

“You look gorgeous.”

Jess chuckled gently. “I look the same as always. Rockin’ a lot of polka dots.”

“Like I said, gorgeous.” Nick kissed her again and sat beside her on the bed.

“What’s got you in a good mood?”

“Just thinking about how lucky I am to be with you.”

They were about to kiss again when there was a knock on the door. “ _Service de Chambre!_ ”

“You ordered room service?” Nick asked.

“Yup!” Jess went to the door and accepted the food. “ _Merci!_ ”

They started to eat their meal and Nick pulled out his phone.

“What are you doing?” Jess asked.

“Instagramming a picture of this to Schmidt. Maybe the fact that I’m eating a salad will get him off of my back about my _poor diet_.” Nick said the last two words in a mocking tone.

“Your diet is really bad.”

“It’s _fine_ , and besides, doesn’t he have a kid now to look after? Isn’t she supposed to take up all of his attention?”

“I knew it!” Jess exclaimed, giggling. “You’re jealous of Ruth!”

“I am _not_!”

“Oh come on, you so are!”

“There’s nothing to be jealous about.”

“She’s adorable.”

“She’s the spawn of Satan.”

“Nick!”

“What?!”

Jess shook her head fondly. “You’re impossible. Aly’s pregnant, are you going to be jealous of their kid.”

“I’m not jealous,” Nick muttered.

“What about us? If I get pregnant, will be jealous of our baby?”

Nick looked up and stared at Jess lovingly. “I would love that child with everything I have.


	3. Chapter 3

After a month spent in Paris that was filled with bookstore tours, and croissants, and long walks in the evening, Nick and Jess finally landed in Dublin, Ireland. Nick had received Bob’s grandmother’s ring a few days before they left to go to Dublin and had secretly managed to slip the ring box into his suitcase without Jess seeing. 

He had the perfect proposal in mind: he was going to take Jess to a sports game and try his hardest to appear on the Kiss Cam. Then, when they were about to kiss, Nick was going to get down on one knee and ask her to marry him. It was cheesy, it was overdone; Jess would love it. 

He had a week until they were to see the game, so he decided to build up the romance as best to his ability. 

They went clothes shopping to pass the time, and he convinced Jess to try on some wedding dresses. She looked beautiful in every single one. And he made sure to tell her that.

“Why thank you, Nick,” Jess said, beaming and twirling in her dress. It was full length and sleeveless. He wondered if she would wear it for their wedding. 

“Do you like it?” he asked her.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I always preferred short dresses,” she stroked her arms, “and sleeves.”

“Well, you’d look beautiful in anything.”

She kissed him gently. “Thank you. So, is there any specific reason why you want me to try on the dress?”

Nick wanted to propose right there on the spot, especially since Jess looked so hopeful. But he couldn’t ruin the surprise. “No reason, I just thought you’d enjoy it.”

She looked a little disappointed at first but quickly recovered. “Oh, well, I did. Thank you.”

He took her out to dinner at a 4-star restaurant and paid for the whole meal- even dessert. 

“What’s the occasion?” Jess asked him as they ate their dessert. “You almost never pay.” She had another expectant look on her face- she was really praying for a proposal.

It hurt Nick’s heart, but he said, “Nothing.” It would all be worth it when he would get down on one knee and take her breath away. “I’m just making money now, so I figured that I should treat my girl.”

Jess blushed at the ‘my girl’ comment. “That’s very sweet of you.”

“I am sweet.”

She took his hand. “Yes, you are.”

The day before the game, they went on a long walk through a park.

“So, we’ve been together for 2 and a half years,” Jess said, holding tightly onto Nick’s hand despite the gross sweat that coated it.

“Y-Yes,” Nick stuttered, “that is a fact, yes.”

“Have you… thought about our future?”

“No.” It was all that Nick had been thinking about, but he couldn’t let Jess know this. He wanted it to be a surprise.

“Oh? N-Not at all?”

“What’s there to think about? We stay together, we breathe air, and we die. All sorted!” 

“As magical as that sounds,” Jess drawled, “isn’t there more to it? We’ve already decided that we want kids together.”

“Right.”

“Is there any particular time that you want to start trying?”

“ _Trying?_ ” Nick drew in a sharp breath. “Um, maybe when we’re not travelling?”

Jess could sense that Nick was getting uncomfortable, so she went along with what he was saying. “Yes, of course. We’ll wait as long as we have to.”

* * *

Finally, they were at the game. They had great seats, which were close to the front but not too close that they couldn’t talk to each other. 

Everything was perfect. Now, all that Nick had to do was ensure that he and Jess would be on the Kiss Cam. He spent the game being more touchy-feely with Jess than usual, holding her hand, putting an arm around her, and kissing her on the cheek. He noticed that the camera guy was looking at them every so often, so he assumed that his plan had worked.

_ I Kissed A Girl _ began playing through the speakers and Nick got excited. The screens became boarded with pink hearts and couples were shown kissing. Nick stared at the screen until he saw himself. He grinned and looked at Jess.

“Jess,” he said, “um, Jessica, there’s something I want to…” He stopped when he heard Jess giggling and looked back at the screen. It was definitely himself up there, but it wasn’t showing Jess. It was showing a guy sat beside him. “Oh no.”

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” the audience chanted.

“No, no,” Nick tried to yell over the audience, “this is my girlfriend! The pretty girl! I don’t know this guy!”

The guy beside him grabbed Nick’s face. “Pucker up,” he muttered and clashed their lips together. Nick squirmed in the guy’s grip and tried to free himself, and after 5 seconds, he was finally let go.

“Well!” he exclaimed, catching his breath. He turned back to Jess. “Sorry about that.”

Jess shrugged. “No biggie.”

Nick wondered if the moment was ruined, or if he could possibly salvage the date by proposing. But then the Kiss Cam went on to showcase another couple, and the guy got down on one knee and asked his girlfriend to marry him. She nodded her head, squealing and jumping up and down. He put the ring on her finger and they shared a meaningful kiss.

Jess watched them in wonder. “It’s cute,” she said, “but I’d rather have something more meaningful, you know?”

Nick squeezed her hand. “I know.” They shared a look and Nick’s phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He took it out and saw that he had a dozen texts from Schmidt, Winston, Aly, and Cece. He had forgotten that he had told them to watch the game so they could share the proposal with him, but of course, they hadn’t gotten engaged. He could handle the teasing from them, but it was the ominous ‘ _Call me!!!_ ’ from Bob that freaked Nick out.

He wasn’t looking forward to hearing what Bob had to say.


	4. Chapter 4

Their next stop was London, and luckily for Nick, Jess wanted to see all the attractions. After 2 weeks of signing and promoting, they finally had a few days to spend together. 

Their first stop was a place that Jess had wanted to visit ever since she was a little kid, Buckingham Palace. Nick tried to behave maturely, but when he saw the guards, he couldn’t help but try to make them move. He believed that he nearly succeeded, but Jess said the only thing he was close to was getting them thrown off grounds. They also visited the Queen’s gallery, which Nick surprisingly found interesting to look at. It turned out that Jess wanted to spend the entire day there, so they ended up taking a tour around the Clarence House to see the gardens and ground-floor rooms, as well as seeing _more_ paintings. Nick’s feet were beginning to hurt by this point, and he couldn’t even find a time to ask Jess to marry him with her contestant enthusiasm to see more. After seeing the Buckingham Palace garden, a couple of monuments, and a lousy museum that Nick barely remembered, Jess was finally satisfied and allowed them to go back to their hotel.

“I hope that didn’t bore you too much,” she said, grateful that he let her enjoy the day. “Thank you.”

“Of course, Jess,” Nick said. It was nearly dark out and was just the two of them on the street. It would have been the perfect time and place to propose, but Nick could barely feel his feet after walking around all day, and he knew that even if he could somehow get down on one knee, he wouldn’t be able to get back up again.

He’d have to find another time.

* * *

The next day, Jess woke Nick up early so they could visit the Tower of London. They learned about the different roles that the tower had fulfilled. The only part that Nick found truly interesting was hearing about the executions that took place there, which he took mental notes of for his Pepperwood series.

Much to his dismay, Jess wanted to see _another_ museum right after. It was even worse for him when he found out that the book there didn’t have copies of Pepperwood. Jess tried her best to comfort and explain to him that it was a history museum, so they would only have fiction books, but Nick still lectured the store owner about how Pepperwood is a piece of classic literature and they were making a huge mistake. Nick ended up getting thrown out for causing a disturbance, and Jess reluctantly left with him. Nick was only upset that they were forced out before they could hit the cafe or gift shop. 

Nick was allowed to choose their next destination, so he went basic and went with Big Ben. The tower was more boring than Nick imagined, especially since it just stood there.

“Why won’t it _do_ something?” he demanded.

“Nick, it’s a tower, what do you expect it to do?” Jess asked, sighing at her boyfriend’s public scene.

“I don’t know. Talk, move?! I don’t know what clocks do!”

“They normally have debates and politic stuff here,” Jess told him. “I did wonder why you chose to see this place.”

“No, I don’t believe in politics,” Nick said. “Let’s go.”

“Where do you want to go now?”

“Hmm, how about Piccadilly Circus?” 

“You know that’s not a real circus, right?”

“Is London even _real_?!” Nick exclaimed.

To calm Nick down, Jess suggested that they went to the Kew Gardens to have a relaxing walk. Jess enjoyed looking at the different types of plants, while Nick enjoyed looking at Jess while she looked at the different types of plants. They were inside a glass house when Nick noticed that the sun was beginning to set. He knew that if he wanted his plan to be successful, he would have to convince Jess to leave right at that moment, or else he would have to wait until the next day.

“Hey, Jess,” he said, “um, how about we go back to the hotel?”

“So soon?” she replied, and Nick wondered how she wasn’t tired yet. “But we haven’t done the Holly Walk yet.”

“As much as I would love to go on a mile-long walk just to see some hollies, I’m a little tired.”

She smiled at him. “Okay, thank you for today.” She took his hand and they made their way out of the gardens.

They were in a taxi, going back to their hotel, when Nick told the driver to take them to the London Eye instead.

“What’re you doing?” Jess asked him.

“It’s a surprise.”

* * *

By the time they were seated inside the glass capsule (luckily, they had managed to get a private one), it was dark out. While Nick had intended for it to be sunset, he didn’t mind. The wheel was lit up beautifully, and Jess seemed to be enjoying it anyway. It had a beautiful view of the city that no picture could ever do justice. 

They were right at the top, and Nick knew it was time. He cleared his throat to get Jess’ attention, but she didn’t spare him a glance.

“Jess?”

Nothing.

“Um, Jess, there’s something I want to ask you.”

There was a worried look on her face.

“Are you okay?” he asked her and gently touched her arm.

“Why aren’t we moving?” she asked.

“Um, because… we stay here for a bit.”

“It’s hot in here. Are you warm? I’m warm.”

“It’s fine, a little chilly,” Nick gave her a strange look, “should I call someone?”

She pulled him into a hug. “I’m fine, just… can we open a window?” She looked at her surroundings.

“I don’t think so. Was this a bad idea?”

“No, no… thank you.” She gave him a genuine smile. “Just stay with me, yeah?”

“Always, Jess.” He held her tightly, determined to protect her from anything that could harm her. “Always.”


End file.
